


What Will It Take

by Kurgy



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Blood and Gore, M/M, Minor Character Death, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 21:20:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17169593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kurgy/pseuds/Kurgy
Summary: It was a normal day, he woke up, ate breakfast, and went to work. Nothing seemed different, nothing seemed out of place, then it happened. The screams, the blood, it all happened so fast, nothing could've prepared him for this.





	What Will It Take

He woke up groggy, not enough sleep to prepare him for the day, but that couldn't stop him. He had work in an hour, and he never liked being late. He yawned as his stomach let out a low growl. Time for breakfast.

He stood up from his bed, stretching his arms up above his head before heading to his closet, his sweatpants hanging low as he scratched at his toned stomach. He slid open the door, grabbing one of his many bartender get ups he'd received from Kasuka, laying it out on the bed before going to the bathroom, taking care of business and brushing his teeth. He looked in the mirror, tossling his hair a bit but deciding it was fine as is. He left the bathroom, heading back to his bedroom to change clothes. His day looked to be uneventful.

Once he was all changed he went for the kitchen, frying an egg and making some toast before sitting down in front of his old tv, flipping through channels as he ate. Nothing really caught his attention, there was some hold up at a pharmaceutical company, bit he didn't really care, he was hardly paying attention anyway, he just wanted some background noise as he ate. Before long he was finished with breakfast, turned off the tv and placed his dishes a sink already full of unwashed plates and bowls, he decided it was a problem for later. For now he just had to get to work, Tom would surely be waiting for him at the office, he'd rather not make him wait any longer.

He grabbed his keys as he bent down to slip on his shoes, taking his cellphone and wallet along as he opened the door and stepped outside his apartment. He fumbled with his keys a bit before locking the door, stuffing his cellphone and wallet into his pockets as he walked down the stairs. It was a bright sunny day, the warmth calming him as he made his way down the street. He hoped it would be a good day, maybe even keep his temper under control as they went around the city on their business. He smiled a bit to himself at the thought of going through the day without a brawl. Maybe today would be his lucky day.

He walked his way to the office, trying no to be bothered by the people who practically leapt out of his way, though it seemed more...manic than usual. You'd think he'd be used to it after all these years, but the twinge in his chest never seemed to go away at others reactions to his very presence, still, he wouldn't let this ruin his day. He was determined to have a good day. He thinks only Izaya could ruin this day for him, but he hadn't seen Izaya around for a few weeks, which was just fine with him. The less he saw of that bastard the better. He didn't remember any of the names of the clients they were tracking down today, he didn't really care either, so long as none of them soured his good mood it didn't matter to him.

He arrived at the office fairly quickly, walking in and greeting those he passed before finding Tom sitting in the employee lounge. "Hey." he said, waving a bit as he walked up to him. "Good morning."

"You too." Tom replied, standing from his seat and sliding his hands into his pockets. "Ready to go? We've got a few stops, but it looks to be a pretty slow day, so maybe we can grab a coffee."

"Sounds good." Shizuo replied, following Tom's lead as they exit the office building. They made their way through the city, stopping a few times at clients homes, some paid up, some weren't even home, obviously trying to avoid the debt collectors, but Shizuo didn't mind, they couldn't avoid them forever after all, and he hadn't needed to get violent, which was a major plus in his book. Everything seemed so peaceful, he couldn't help but smile a bit. "What's up?" Tom said, leaning forward a bit as they walked. "You're all smiley today."

"Don't know." he responded. "Just feels like a good day." Shizuo said with a bit of a laugh. He wasn't sure what it was really, it's not like he was skipping with joy or anything, he was just...at peace. Which is all he ever wanted. He felt the kind if normal he'd wanted all his life, and he wanted to enjoy for as long as it lasted.

"If you say so man." Tom chuckled. "Let's make a stop at that cafe, I might die without a coffee before noon."

Shizuo laughed. He could go for a coffee, though he didn't need it the same way Tom apparently did. They entered casually, taking a window seat near the back and ordering two coffees. Shizuo watched out the window as people ran by, he thought it was odd, they seemed to be running away from something, some looked like they were running toward it, beckoning others to follow. Normally that something they were running from was him. Who knows, maybe there was a car wreck or a robbery, whatever it was had nothing to do with him so he let it go. Many people came running into the shop, out of breath and panicked as they spoke about...something. Shizuo couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"I saw one!" a man said. "bit his face right off!" 

"I heard they're just attacking people in the streets." a woman spoke up. "They don't even care who, just anyone within arms length, like wild animals."

Tom looked over his shoulder as Shizuo eavesdropped, trying to focus in on whatever it was that had Shizuo's attention.

"I heard it started at that Yagiri place, some worker just walked out and attacked someone, the police have been there all morning!" an older woman chimed in, clutching at her husbands arm

There was a large tv affixed to the wall behind the counter, many seemed almost entranced by what they saw, Shizuo got a bit curious and turned his eyes towards the tv. There was a newscaster, reporting some sort of assault, she seemed panicked, terrified, Shizuo wasn't sure why.

"This just in." she said, holding her hand to her ear as a coworker must have reported something to her through her headpiece. "It seems a large mob has clashed with police near Yagiri pharmaceuticals and some have been seen exiting the building in a blind rage. Police have yet to get inside and assess just what is going on inside the-"

There was a loud boom, the ground shook as if a bomb had gone off as some screamed out in surprise, the camera cutting off as the tv shook violently, finally falling from the wall along with cups and bowls, the power cut out momentarily before flickering back on again. "What the fuck was that?" Tom said, a look of shock on his face as he held his hands above his head. Before Shizuo had a chance to answer there was screaming, people outside running frantically away from a threat Shizuo couldn't see. Without thinking he stood up and ran outside. "Hey!" Tom yelled after him, grumbling something as he got up to follow.

Shizuo walked outside, pushing his way through the onslaught of frightened pedestrians as he looked the opposite direction, looking for the source of the chaos. All he saw were people, running like their lives depended on it before one of them tackled another, pinning the man to the ground as he screamed. The attacker simply growled and snarled, Shizuo had no idea what was happening and then-

His eyes grew wide. The attacker sunk his teeth into the neck of the poor man on the ground, taking a large bite of the mans neck before going in for another, then another. He was _eating_ him. Shizuo was frozen. He didn't know what to do when all around him more began to attack the slowest of the crowd, throwing people to the ground and taking bites of their flesh, the more people fallen, the more attackers piled around them, eating them alive as they screamed. "Shizuo!" Tom yelled. "We gotta get out of here c'mon!"

Tom grabbed at Shizuo's arm, trying to tug him along with the others running past them, but Shizuo braces himself --grabbing the nearest road sign he could-- and swinging it at their attackers, knocking a few of them back as Shizuo charged, he's not sure why he did it. He should've just listened to Tom, but he wanted to help, get them off these people before it was too late. He knocked two of them away from the woman they had pinned to the ground. He kneeled down beside her. "Hey!" he shouted, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Her body spasmed, arms twitching as she struggled to lift herself, she grabbed at his shoes, a strange clicking noise in her throat as she lifted her head. Shizuo went rigged. Her eyes were empty, fogged over as if behind faded glass, blood streamed from her mouth, the wounds on her back and arms oozing blood as she struggled to her knees. She stared at him for a moment, her head twitching from side to side as Shizuo just watched, then she lunged at him, her teeth bared as she growled furiously. Shizuo jumped to his feet, taking a step back as she scrambled to her feet. "Shizuo!" he heard Tom yell, but he was frozen. What was happening?

"SHIZUO!" Tom screamed, grabbing hold of Shizuo's arm as he tried to push the woman back. She shrieked as Tom touched her, grabbing hold of his hand and sinking her teeth into his skin. "FUCK!" he yelled, trying to push the woman off before Shizuo steeled himself and let loose a punch, launching the woman across the street as more of them approached Shizuo and Tom. "Come on!" Tom said, locking his grip around Shizuo's arm as they ran with the crowds.

They ran for some time before they heard the gun fire, coming across a police blockade gunning down any that approached. They slowed to a stop, ducking into an alley to catch their breath. "What the hell is going ON!?" Tom yelled, hands on his knees as he heaved. Shizuo eyed the bite on Tom's hand, had she really tried to bite them? _Eat_ them like those others? He was so confused, he didn't know what to do. "Tom, are you alright?" 

Tom waved his bloody hand. "I'm fine."

Guilt nagged at Shizuo's chest, he should have listened and just ran, Tom wouldn't have been hurt if he had. "So what do we do?" Shizuo asked, peering back out from the alleyway, watching as fights broke out in the streets, some bashing the heads in of the feral, some being eaten alive, some gunned down by police. Its like in one short hour the whole world went to hell. Tom pulled out his phone, dialing for their office but receiving no answer. He cursed, stuff the device back into his pocket before looking around. "We gotta get somewhere safe."

"Yeah but where? Those...things are everywhere, and the cops don't look like they'd give us much help." Shizuo said, still peaking out to look at the carnage unfolding in front of him. He turned back towards Tom, staring at his injured hand before getting an idea. "Shinra!"

"What?" Tom said, looking up at him with a confused expression.

"We'll go to Shinra's, he can fix up your hand, and knowing Celty, it'll be safe." Shizuo explained. It was all he could think of, Tom's hand was bleeding a lot, they needed to get it looked at. Shinra's seemed like the best option, any local hospitals probably flooded with calls already. "We'll go to Shinra."

"If you say so." Tom said, he wobbled a little as he stood up straight, but Shizuo didn't mention it. He was probably tired, the man doesn't often have to run like this after all. Shizuo was used to it. 

"Are you ready?" Shizuo asked, getting ready to run through the chaos.

"Yeah." Tom said, nodding his head. "Let's go."

They bolted out of the alley, dodging past the screaming crowds and people pinned and being eaten alive, maneuvering around the oncoming police officers gunning down attackers and civilians alike. It was absolute chaos. Shizuo grabbed hold of Tom's arm as they ran, Tom tripping over his feet as Shizuo ran, practically dragging the man along as they ran. Shizuo was stronger, faster than Tom, and his friend was wounded, he needed to hurry. He didn't look back as he sprinted towards Shinra's apartment. People screamed as they passed, being tackled to the ground by the feral, Shizuo tried to ignore them. He couldn't afford to get Tom in anymore damage than he already had. 

Before he knew it they stood at the front of Shinra's apartment complex, Shizuo looking behind him to check on Tom. He was doubled over, heaving as he attempted to catch his breathe, his hand bleeding profusely as he clutched at it with his non-injured hand. "Are you alright?" Shizuo asked, placing a hand on his friends shoulder.

"Y-yeah I...it's nothing..I'm fine.." Tom replied, heaving as if he were about to vomit. Shizuo assumed he was just winded, they had to hurry. Surely they'd be safer up in Shinra's apartment than they were down here. 

Before they could ascend the stairs black enveloped them, squeezing them together tight as they were dragged presumably upstairs and just like that they were standing in front of Shinra's door, Celty standing next to them watching down the stairs before turning towards them typing furiously on her phone.

 _"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"_ she said before typing up another message. _"Come inside."_

She pulled them inside before shutting and locking the door behind them. Shinra came out from the hallway, his face grim as the tv played another news report from Shinjuku. Shizuo watched for a few moments, noting that they were in much of the same situation as Ikebukuro. What was happening?

"Are either of you hurt?" he said, looking over them, eyeing Tom's bleeding hand. 

"It's chaos out there!" Shizuo said, bringing Tom over to Shinra. "Tom got hurt, one of those...people bit him."

Shinra's eyes grew wide as he took a few steps back, Celty summoning her scythe as she stepped between them and Shinra. Shizuo was shocked. "What are you doing!?" he yelled. "He's hurt he needs help!"

Shinra shook his head. "Shizuo get away from him now!" he screamed, digging into his pocket and-

Shizuo's face dropped. He had a _gun_.

"Shinra what the hell!? Put that thing away! Where did you even get that!?" Shizuo yelled, putting a defensive arm up around Tom as Shinra aimed.

"Shizuo I'll explain everything just get away from him!" Shinra yelled. 

Before Shizuo could responded he hear Tom's labored breathing, that same guttural growl and clicking he'd heard from the woman on the ground. He looked behind him, Tom clutching at his chest as he doubled over, twitching and spasming before his arms went limp. "...Tom?"

He was instantly surrounded by Celty's shadows again as he was dragged across the room and away from Tom, Celty releasing him after he was pulled behind her. He looked at them confused before his eyes fell on Tom. His shoulders hunched and eyes that same glassy vacant he'd seen in the woman.

"He's infected." Shinra said, trying to hold the gun steady as Tom fumbled towards them. "He'll infect us too."

Shizuo tried to protest but Tom lunged for them, snarling a growling behind dead eyes as blood leaked from his mouth, Celty's shadow shooting out and pinning the man against the wall. Celty readied her scythe as Shizho screamed out in defiance before Celty swung her scythe at Tom's head, the blade cutting cleanly through flesh as Tom's head toppled to the floor, his body falling to its knees before falling over. Shizuo was horrified. This couldn't be happening. Blood gushed from Tom's neck, the missing head laying motionless on the floor, a lazy expression now permanently etched on its face. Shizuo felt like he was going to throw up.

Celty wrapped the body and hesd in her shadow, opening the balcony door as she lifted the shsdow easily over the edge. "What are you doing?" he said, he couldn't even find it in him to be angry. He was just..stunned.

"We have to get the body away from us, we can't risk getting any of his bodily fluids on us. We can't risk infection." Shinra said, lowering the gun with shaky hands.

"You keep _saying_ that! What does it mean!?" Shizuo screamed, running his hands through his hair.

"Shizuo, what's happening right now is an outbreak of a nrain altering fungal disease spread through through the infecteds bodily fluids. Tom was bitten by an infected, through blood or saliva, Tom was infected. The infected turn feral, bloodthirsty, they will viciously attack the uninfected. Tom would've infected us." Shinra said calmly, carefully to get Shizuo to understand, but it was all lost on him. A disease? Outbreak? Infected? Shizuo was overwhelmed and before he could say anything Celty dropped Tom's body over the balcony, Shinra getting to work to clean up the blood. Shizuo didn't know what to do, he just stood there while his friend was killed, he didn't do _anything_ to stop it. If this was a disease, maybe there was a cure? Treatment? They couldn't just..kill everyone. This is wrong. It's all wrong. Celty placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. It wasn't working. She began typing on her phone, flashing Shizuo the screen.

 _"I'm sorry."_ she said, typing up another message. _"You should stay here, you'll be safe here."_

Shizuo simply nodded, watching Shinra mop up the blood, Tom's blood. He felt sick. "I need to call Kasuka." Shizuo said, pulling out his phone, Celty nodding as she sat beside him.

He dialed Kasuka's number, trying to control the shaking of his hands. Kasuka answered right away, which was a relief. "Kasuka, where are you? Are you okay?" he said, a little more manic than he intended.

"I'm fine. I'm with Ruri at my apartment." he said, somehow still so calm. "What about you?"

"I'm at Shinra's." Shizuo said, sighing a bit in relief at Kasuka's safety. "Stay up in your apartment. It's chaos out there." 

"I will. You stay safe too." Kasuka said, he could hear his girlfriend talking in the background, but couldn't make it out.

"When things calm down I'll come check on you." Shizuo said, his hand clenching into a fist against his thigh.

"Okay." Kasuka said, still so calm, Shizuo wondered how he did it.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, delicate at first, then panicked.

"Kasuka I have to go, I'll call you back soon." Shizuo said before hanging up, shooting up and making a beeline for the door before Celty could stop him. Shinra looked panicked, about to yell at him to stop before it was too late. Shizuo opened the door and was immediately embraced by two terrified girls. Mairu looked up at him, her eyes glossy from crying and her glasses broken. She gazed at him for a moment before breaking out into a sob, the girls shaking in fear as they sobbed into Shizuo's torso. "Mairu, Kururi, what happened? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Celty was ready with her scythe as Shinra scrambled to his feet. Mairu looked up at him again, shaking her head, there was blood splattered on her face, Shizuo was worried. "W-We're fine. W-We didn't get hurt." she said, tightening her arms around Shizuo.

"Where did that blood come from?" Shinra said cautiously.

The girls were quiet, Mairu choking out another sob as Kururi wailed. Everyone was on edge, Celty still ready with her scythe, but her hands were shaking. Shizuo couldn't let her kill the girls, he just couldn't. He'd leave with them if he had to, find them help. Mairu finally looked up at him again. "It's..It's not my blood..we aren't hurt..." she said, sniffling.

"It's Iza-nii's" Kururi said, not lifting her face as she cried. Mairu let loose another sob. Shizuo didn't know what to say. He untangled their arms from his torso, kneeling down to be somewhat eye level with the girls.

"What happened?" he said as calmly as he could, Shinra coming up to examine them as he spoke.

"Things were going crazy, we were at school, and people just...started attacking each other!" Mairu said, wiping at her eyes. "I went to get Kururi, trying to fight them off, they were easy to knock down, but they just kept getting back up. I didn't know what to do.."

Shizuo nodded along as she spoke, trying to remain calm as Shinra checked them over, wiping the blood from Mairu's face and giving them the okay, Shizuo hurrying them in as he stood and walked them over to the couch, Celty wisking he scythe away with relief. Shizuo sat down with both girls beside him, taking their hands in his own as he tried to comfort them. "I found Kururi, and we ran, we were just trying to get out of school. When he got out, we saw Iza-nii, he got the gate open and grabbed us, then we were running. I'm not sure where he was taking us, we didn't have time to ask, and then...."

"And then?" Shizuo asked, trying to coax more out of her as Celty brought them glasses of water.

"There was a group of people, they were..weird, like at school. They attacked us, and Iza-nii he...he started killing them, trying to keep us behind him but...." she trailed off, squeezing Shizuo's hand. "They were behind us, someome grabbed Kururi, I tried to get him off, but he just growled, he tried to bite her!"

Kururi wrapped her arms around Shizuo's arm, her eyes squeezed tight as her sister spoke. Shizuo placed a hand on her head, he didn't know what else to do.

"Iza-nii came, he pulled the guy off Kururi but...another one came, they jumped on Iza-nii and, and-"

"Bit him." Kururi mumbled.

Shinra looked away as Celty raised her hand to her nonexistent mouth. Shizuo clutched tight at Mairu's hand, his heart beating a mile a minute at the sudden realization. Izaya got bit. Izaya was one of them.

"They took a bite right out of his neck before he threw them off, he grabbed our hands and we ran, but there was something wrong with him. He was in so much pain. He told us to come here, to run as fast as we could. He wouldn't come with us. So we ran, and now...now we're here." Mairu finished, leaning her head on Shizuo's shoulder. "He's going to be okay, right?" 

Everyone was silent. Shinra knew the answer, but didn't speak up as he placed a hand on Celty's shoulder. The silence seemed to answer Mairu's question. She buried her face in her hands, trying to control herself as Kururi cried. "He's gonna die, isn't he?" Mairu choked out.

".......Yes." Shinra finally said. "I'm sorry."

Mairu shook her head. "He was annoying and mean but I....I never wanted him to die." she said, pulling her knees up against her chest.

Shizuo remained quiet. He always went on about how much he wanted to kill Izaya, it wouldn't be right for him to speak up now, to comfort them when they all knew his toxic relationship with Izaya. They both wanted the other dead, but now that Izaya was, Shizuo felt nothing but emptiness. First Tom, then Izaya...at least he managed to get the girls to safety. Probably the first good thing he'd ever done in his life.

"For now.." Shinra chimed in. "We should all stay here, it'll be safer than out on the streets."

Shizuo nodded, gently holding Kururi with one hand and wrapping his other around Mairu's as the girls came to terms with what happened. 

"Yeah."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! its safe to say this fic will get rather dark, lots of violence and gore, some major deaths and some minor. if thats not for you i completely understand, if you did like it however, i hope youll stick around for future chapters!


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